Mia nodded and reached for the door handle. His hand grabbed her arm.
As she turned around, his lips landed on hers. Hot and insistent and full of emotion. All too soon, he pulled away. “Trust me, Mia. I know what I’m doing.”
She wanted so desperately to believe him. “I’ll be ready in an hour.”
“Be careful.”
She nodded and Damien let her go.
The entire walk into the store made Mia feel like a criminal. Did people know she was on the run? Did they see right through her too-big clothes and ill-fitting shoes to the woman underneath?
The automatic doors opened and she headed straight for a shopping cart and then the women’s section. Jeans. A couple shirts. A sweater. Socks and new sneakers. Everything went into the cart.
She paused at the lingerie. Damien had said anything she needed. She hugged the sweatshirt to her chest. Did lace bras and panties count? Hell, yes. She tossed a few in the cart.
A cross-body purse and a pair of sunglasses and Mia’s chest lost some of its tightness. She was starting to feel real. Add in makeup and a toothbrush, thank God, and she smiled at the cashier as she rang her up.
Damien wanted to drive all day in a car with stolen license plates? No problem now that she had some decent clothes and could look in the mirror without cringing. She thanked the cashier and hustled all of her bags into the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, she emerged a new woman.
They might not be the designer clothes she was used to, but they were a million times better. None of the things her father shoved her way ever made her feel this happy. Not the bank account or the private school or the fancy gala, none of it ever did more than make her angry. Sad.
There had to be a way to stop Marcelo. Mia swung her purse over her shoulder and checked the time. Fifteen minutes.
She could wait at the side entrance and hope Damien fared as well, or she could make something happen. If she could show Damien there were good people in the world, if she could prove it to him and find a way to put Marcelo away…
Maybe they’d have a chance.
They couldn’t run forever. Visions of the future swam before her eyes and she hustled to the rear of the store.
“Hello, can I help you find a new phone today?”
Mia smiled at the young man behind the counter. He couldn’t have been older than nineteen. “Could I look at a smart phone? All my friends say I should get one now that I’ve got a job, but I don’t know.”
He grabbed a phone from the display and held it out. “This is a good one. It’s got all the bells and whistles. GPS, email, video.”
“It can text right?”
“Oh, yeah.” His Adam’s apple bobbed and Mia smiled bigger.
“Do you have it in pink?”
“I…have to check. Can you hold on?”
She nodded. As the clerk stepped over to the cash register, Mia swiped the phone on. She hated to lie to the kid, but desperate times.
Before he could catch her, she typed out a quick message to the only man she knew who could help. If it went through, he’d be on the alert. Maybe he would even come up with a solution.
She hit send and closed the app as the clerk came back.
“I’m sorry, it only comes in black.”
Mia pouted. “Guess I’ll have to keep looking. Thanks!” She smiled again and hustled off.
Whoa. As she hurried through the aisles, her breathing slowed. She wasn’t a virgin liar, but sneaking back into a boarding school bedroom and lying to the headmaster wasn’t in the same league as her current endeavor.
Damien’s words echoed in her head. Could she live with the choices she made since she snuck into her father’s office?
Was she only treading water?
Clutching her purse close to her body, she ran-walked to the side entrance. Damien might not believe in the goodness of people, but Mia still did. Marcelo might not back off on his own, but if she could get the right people involved…
Damien would have to understand. She wasn’t cut out to be a criminal. With any luck, he wouldn’t be one forever.
Mia stepped outside as a sleek black car pulled up to the sidewalk. The passenger door swung open.
“Get in.” Damien’s voice called out from inside and Mia ran up to the car.
She slid into the waiting seat and swung the door shut as Damien hit the accelerator.
Mia buckled the seat belt and glanced around the car. It was new with a push start ignition, leather seats. A set of keys sat in the cup holder. “I thought you needed new license plates.”
He shrugged. “Got those too.”
Mia swallowed. He acted like stealing a car was no big deal. “How’d you do it?”
“When you grow up on the streets you pick up all sorts of survival skills.”